Resident warns commission about proposed 2-million-gallon Spanish Valley water tank and regulatory steps ahead

A resident addressed the commission on Sept. 2 about an upcoming conditional-use permit for Moab City to place a large water tank at the Spanish Valley four-way stop at Spanish Valley Drive and Spanish Trail Road. The speaker said public notices list planning-commission and county-commission hearings on Sept. 8 and Sept. 16, respectively, and urged the commission to rely on experienced planning staff, specifically the acting planning and zoning administrator, when reviewing the application.

The speaker told the commission that the proposed tank would hold 2,000,000 gallons and that the water would come from the Glen Canyon Aquifer. She said that under Grand County’s land-use code — and in her remarks she cited Section 9 of the county’s Land Use Code — applicants for conditional-use permits must meet with the zoning administrator before filing an application and that the administrator must distribute completed applications to seven departments or parties spelled out in the code. She urged commissioners to examine reasonably anticipated detrimental effects, compatibility with surrounding areas, and infrastructure impacts and to tie zoning changes and conditional uses to water demand and conservation consistent with Senate Bill 110 and the county general plan.

The remarks were delivered during citizens-to-be-heard; the county did not take immediate action. The speaker asked the commission to consider staff input and state and county water-planning requirements when the item comes before the planning commission and the commission.